Heero's Mission
by IsabelleRose
Summary: Relena calls Heero for help and Duo tags along.


"Heeroooooo! It's for yoooouuuuu! It's your loooooooove!" Duo called to his 'pal', who sat just across the counter. He dangled the phone obnoxiously in front of his stoic friend. Heero punched Duo swiftly in the face, knocking the nuissance backwards off his stool, onto the floor. With ease, he vaulted over the counter and plucked the phone from his fallen comrade's hand.

"Hello? Hello? Duo? Heero? Is someone there?"

"Relena," Heero stated calmly.

"Heero! Can you come over? It's really important," Relena pleaded, sounding distressed.

Distressed? Not on Heero's watch.

"Mission Accepted." He hung up. Duo groaned from the floor. Heero ignored him and headed straight for the car. Duo's car. Anticipating his partner, Duo burst out the door after him in time to see him peeling out of the driveway. With an impressive leap, Duo managed to plant himself on the roof of the speeding vehicle. He clung for dear life as Heero raced down the road towards Relena's manor. He was nearly thrown off when Heero came to a screeching halt at a four-way stop. He took the opportunity to throw himself into the passenger seat and buckle himself in.

"Heero, why do you drive like a madman, but never fail to stop at the stop signs?" Duo whined.

"Relena would be upset," was all Heero would reveal.

_Get in the car, Relena.'_

_'Heero, who's car is this?' He picked her up and set her bodily in the car, not in the mood to justify as the enemy came within firing range._

_'Heero, this is stealing,' Relena informed him, horrified._

_'Hn.'_

_The vehicle shot forward and Heero buckled Relena in while driving with one hand, not needing to take his eyes from the road in order to complete his task. They were being followed. Heero would not fail this mission. They _would_ escape._

_Relena pleaded with him to drive more carefully, to obey the traffic laws, but he was intent on escape, and nothing else. _

_Without warning, he turned violently to the right, they hurtled through a quiet park-_

_- and emerged again on a one-way street, going the wrong direction. Relena was frantic- gripping his arm for dear life._

_'Heero, you have to _stop_ at the stop signs!' she shrieked. She shrieked again as he brought the vehicle to a sudden halt. He looked up and down the street for signs of traffic, but at four in the morning, there wasn't usually much to worry about. Deeming the area secure, he continued driving like a maniac, now bringing the car to whip-lashing halts whenever he approached a stop sign._

_Finally, he pulled up to the estate. He pried Relena's fingers from his arm, and got out of the car. Stepping around to the passenger side, he opened Relena's door for her and offered her his hand. Blushing, she unbuckled her seatbelt and allowed him to help her from the vehicle._

_'Really, Heero, you don't usually react to the paparazzi like that! Was that necessary?' she sighed in utter exasperation._

_'I don't want you plastered all over the newsstands wearing something like _that_,' he told her, as if nothing more needed to be said on the matter. Relena glanced down at her slightly provocative gown. She blushed again and giggled as he walked her to the door, like a true gentleman._

Heero barely had the car in park before he dashed from the vehicle to the front door. He looked like he wanted to kick the door down, but as Duo caught up he noticed that Heero had actually _rung the doorbell_ of all things!

"Heero?" Duo asked, clearly confused by the action. Heero just glared at him. Duo had to assume that this was just one more thing that Relena had insisted on.

Pagan opened the door- finally- and neatly stepped aside. Duo watched in amazement as Heero shot past him - as the old man had clearly anticipated from experience- and up the staircase. Following to the best of his ability, Duo, too, raced up the stairs. 

Heero never paused for a moment. He turned down each corridor with agility and grace. It was a route memorized and perfected. After Duo felt that he had run through a maze, they came to a halt - only Duo's skill and training prevented him from running straight into the Perfect Soldier. Duo's mouth dropped as Heero knocked on the door, politely, instead of knocking it out of his way.

"Relena," he said. He really wasn't one for banter.

"Heero!" The door opened to reveal the cause of this madness. "Come in."

Duo followed, not concerned about an invitation. He was shocked to notice that Relena had been crying. She seemed to be having difficulty holding back the tears, even now.

"Oh, Heero!" She cried, crumpling onto her bed.

"Relena," he said agian. "What's wrong?"

Surprises continued to flock to Duo. He watched, absolutely stunned, as Heero sat gently on the bed beside Relena and tucked her into his arms.

"I-I-," she sobbed into his shoulder and flung her arms around his torso "Heero! I was driving, and-and-"

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here now," he soothed. Duo nearly died on the spot. Heero could be gentle? _Heero_, who had given him a black eye not ten minutes ago. Hey! Speaking of which, that _hurt_.

"I hit a dog!" Relena finally confessed, and broke down into further sobs. Heero didn't say anything. He simply brought his forehead down to hers. He rubbed their noses together until she managed a meek smile, although still heaving from her 

tears.

Duo couldn't imagine Heero saying anything to calm the distressed girl. Probably because Duo, himself, couldn't think of anything comforting to say. Telling her that it was okay would be callous. She was already suffering from enough guilt. Heero wasn't good with words to begin with, how could he possibly rectify this situation?

"Remember on Libra," Heero said so softly that Duo almost missed it. Relena was listening, thought Duo could see she was ready to protest. "You told me over and over again that there had to be a peaceful solution. You tried to tell your brother. You wanted so badly to save all those lives." 

A quiet sob told Duo that Heero's anecdote was only worsening Relena's condition. He thought quickly- trying to come up with a back-up plan. No way Heero could pull this off.

"I've never known anybody with such a passionate regard for life."

"But-!" she began. He shushed her gently, in that deep voice that was almost monotone.

"You were so brave, so kind, and so determined. I admired that. I always will. You change the world every day with your smile."

"If after all that, I can still destroy a life with such ease, I'm not really doing any good at all," Relena insisted.

"You taught me about stop signs," Heero told her, reaching up to wipe away the last of the tears staining her cheeks. "You taught me how to grow a garden," he reminded her.

She smiled at both memories. Duo finally understood Heero's soft spot for plant life.

"The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions," Heero said. "It's not wrong of you to cry, but it shouldn't cause you to deny yourself happiness. You must act on that emotion with the same amount of passion and conviction as all the others."

"Thank you, Heero," she murmured. She kissed his cheek, and he smirked. Then he turned to Duo and glared at the invasion of privacy. Relena suddenly noticed that Duo was there.

"DUO! What happened to your eye?" She exclaimed.

Still at a loss for words, Duo just gaped at the two. Relena stared back at him, anxiously, as Heero pulled her closer and nestled into her hair.

"Mission Complete."


End file.
